Recruiting

Why did Bitcoin rise in value? Everyone gets caught up in the bitcoin bubble craze when they could be learning about the technology that enabled the bitcoin. In the cryptocurrency world, Bitcoin, otherwise known as BTC, and the blockchain it runs on is just as outdated as your dial-up internet connection. It’s considered Blockchain 1.0 and the crypto industry is actively developing Blockchain 3.0 and 4.0. This is where the real magic lives for businesses. The newest versions of the blockchain will offer transformational changes in recruiting and every other industry around the world.

In the next few articles, I’d like to introduce a series of concepts related to how the blockchain will impact HR and the recruiting industry. But before we get there, we must understand the fundamentals of this new internet. We also must comprehend what this blockchain actually is versus what it isn’t.

“The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.”

Imagine a Google or Excel sheet you’ve shared with your recruiting team to track hiring activities. Your sheet updates automatically in real time, it’s asynchronous, and everyone has access to the ability to update it. This is how the blockchain works. At the end of the day, the blockchain is just a database. However, it doesn’t store the data in a centralized way like your Google sheet does in the cloud. It’s a distributed database that isn’t stored in any single location. It’s everywhere, and everyone has access to it. This makes it very easy to maintain transparency and integrity around the data stored in the blockchain.

Most people think about bitcoin and the blockchain as a form of currency or a store of value. In the cryptocurrency world, we identify digital currencies on the blockchain as coins or tokens. They can hold currency or utility attributes. We’re accustomed to thinking about coins or tokens as single cell organisms that serve one purpose – to transact from an origin location to a destination, like when I pay for a movie ticket online, there is an exchange that happens from me to the movie ticket company. In this case, I’m the origin party using my currency and exchanging it for for a product or service – in this case, a movie ticket.

The revolution we call blockchain evolved the concept of the transaction by building a software layer inside the coin that uses an intelligence layer to interact with the blockchain it runs on. The blockchain gives your money a brain, and in the crypto community, we call this a “smart contract.” Smart contracts are referred to as a Blockchain 2.0 innovation, and Ethereum is the name of the blockchain that pioneered the smart contract. Basically, they took Bitcoin once step further by creating an API layer within the digital currency. Ethereum tokens are called Ether or ETH. It has become a platform for businesses to develop on. Smart Contracts AKA Coins AKA Tokens are highly customizable, transaction assets that move on a blockchain and they don’t necessarily have to function as a monetary value.

All of the hype you are reading about is centered around how smart contracts can interact with a distributed, decentralized, blockchain to do amazing things. It’s still very new, and every single industry in the world is coming up with proof of concepts and white papers to apply the benefits of the blockchain configuration.

How much better is the blockchain compared with existing systems? Well, we will need to get comfortable thinking about progress regarding 10X, 50X, 100X, and 1000X increases in performance. The potential value is mind-blowing when you start to understand how it works. Take, for example, SiaCoin, who is building a storage and virtualization blockchain that will become a competitor or acquisition target for DropBox, Amazon AWS/S3, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud. Why? Well, let’s take a look at this comparison chart listed on Sia’s website:

If you were to utilize 100 Terabytes of data on Sia’s solution, you would save 90% compared with your existing provider and Sia will outperform. The value of the technology is astonishing, and we’ve only begun to discover blockchain’s utility.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction and in my next entries, I’ll turn our attention to emerging companies in the people and recruiting space that are building on the blockchain. We’ll evaluate how all this will impact HR, recruiting professionals, candidates, and the overall hiring process so stay tuned!

Please enjoy the video blog 1 of 3 in a series about Talent Sourcing…setting up your sourcing dashboard!

1. Sourcing Dashboard Set Up

2. Configuring and Managing – Next Up

3. Reporting and Relationships – Last

If you have two extra minutes, I’d really appreciate it if you were able to complete this specialization survey about the specialized work that you do every day, in your day. We are getting close to launching our first official pilot program inside the Recruiting Innovators Slack Community for an upcoming product called Lancelot.io.

This will help us create the right categories of work which will allow us to introduce more work assignments for you. If you know someone who you respect in our industry, please share this email with them. Please please please help us. 🙂

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Chmielinski is a second generation recruiting veteran, former baseball player, and founder of Veruca.io, the first ever recruiting innovations lab. His company is built from two generations of sales and recruiting experience resting on the backbone of post-millennial technology.

In this Recruiter Hangout, Bill Vick and James Chmielinski discuss the impact that technology will have on the future of recruiting and sourcing. Gone are the days of the huge all-in-one platform. The new generation of Millennials are independent entrepreneurs, who want choice. Watch now to learn what Bill and James think about the generation gaps, and how software and apps will change the profession.

Watch the video below and enjoy!

Published on Oct 13, 2016

Bill Vick has been at the top of his profession as a recruiting visionary and innovator for years. His initiatives have benefited countless individuals and organizations including clients, candidates, and colleagues over many years.

James Chmielinski is a second generation recruiting veteran, former baseball player, and founder of Veruca.io, the first ever recruiting innovations lab. His company is built from two generations of sales and recruiting experience resting on the backbone of post-millennial technology.

Baby boomers are leaders and a generation of risk takers. They were never afraid to put it all on the line for the greater good. The boomers didn’t grow up having actionable data to rely on like we do. Putting the puzzle piece together was more challenging but they did the best that they could with the insights that were available. It takes time to develop winning mechanics.

My generation (Generation Y, Echo-boomers) has turned into a generation of followers. We are a group that is politically correct and don’t want to stand out in the crowd. Think about Facebook. How many followers do you have on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram? Does it tickle your fancy when you get a new follower? We are selfless. We have a heart. We care but we lack the driving force in guiding the direction for our industry.

Now, Millennials, they are something special.

The Millenial Generation is the new and improved version of the boomers and they are destined to create greatness in the American business landscape. A generation of empowerment that is inspired to use mature tools and technology to make life easier, automate, and achieve greatness at half the cost and half the effort. Our entire business community needs to invest in this generation and provide them with specialized programs that help them decide what micro service architecture works best for life’s design. Get out of their way. They were raised differently and think differently. Let them decide how to put the puzzle piece together. They won’t fail you. Thanks to the inter-connectedness of data, technology, and people architecture – everything is changing….fast!

They say HR is dying but it doesn’t even matter. Nor does it matter what generation you previously identified with because everyone has access in the virtual generation.

Now, Millennials, they are something special.

In my opinion, they are the new boomers and they are destined to create greatness in the American business landscape. A generation of empowerment that is inspired to use mature tools and technology to make life easier, automate, and achieve greatness at half the cost and half the effort. Our entire business community needs to invest in this generation and provide them with specialized programs that help them decide what micro service architecture works best for life’s design. Get out of their way. They are better than you. They were raised differently. They think differently. Let them decide how to put the puzzle piece together. They won’t fail you.

Thanks to the inter-connectedness of data, technology, and people architecture – everything is changing….fast! They say HR is dying but it doesn’t even matter. Nor does it matter what generation you previously identified with because everyone has a golden ticket into the virtual generation.

I propose a new way to work. A better way. A specialized way.

The virtual generation is here and we see this in proven marketplace technology, mobile apps, and the empowered desire for professionals to decide what, where, and how they can add value to the community they work in.

My community is committed to empowering this new, virtual generation into a new way of thinking about talent acquisition.

The sourcing, recruiting, and HR community is growing up and we believe that SourcingTalent.Cloud is the catalyst to make this revolution a reality. Don’t take my word for it, empower yourself to examine and research our effort. Talk about it with your peers. We encourage you to do the following:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Chmielinski is a second generation recruiting veteran, former athlete, and founder of Veruca.io, the first ever recruiting innovations lab. His company is built from two generations of sales and recruiting experience resting on the backbone of post-millennial technology. An industry-leading, hub-spot for consulting, technology, and recruiting process design. Veruca.io aims to make life easier for professional sourcing and recruiting teams. Mr. Chmielinski’s inaugural software attracted 178 active users in 114 cities from 17 countries.

If you are a recruiting agent, you think that you influence a hire. In reality, corporate teams marginalize your efforts. You are powerless in their world…..unless you understand the world as they see it.

The more you understand the problems facing your internal corporate recruiting teams, the better you can position yourself as a problem solver and influencer.

An internal corporate recruiter can gain influence by understanding business problems that corporate leaders are facing inside the company. Proximity helps a corporate recruiter to understand how best to support a leaders challenges. If done right, it will lead to a growth in influencing power with the recruiting leader and key corporate decision makers. Help internal leaders solve their problems and they will help you solve your problems.

An external recruiting agent can build credibility and gain influence with internal recruiting and hiring teams too. Empathy is necessary. When given the chance for dialogue, don’t make it about you or your candidate. Make it about the problem your client contact is facing. If you don’t know what the problem is, ask! Level set about your intention, which is to help brainstorm ideas that will help your point of contact solve their problems. If they question your motives, respond by explaining that you’d like to ask other clients what they did when faced with a similar situation so you can relay the information back.

Did the light bulb just go on? Ding.

Congratulations! You’ve transformed in your client’s eyes and their opinion of the value you can deliver has changed. They will think differently about who you are as a person and what influence is available to you.

You have effectively become a partner providing a unique solution relevant to their needs. You’ve also secured your place for the interim and your partnership. You are your clients’ reconnaissance, research agent of choice and that, my friend, is priceless! Go for it. Grow your relationship.

In the following, I will highlight five more problems impacting corporate and agency partnerships while offering a narrative that will transform your relationships.

1. Client Mentality: Vendor vs Partner

Many recruiting groups put a policy in place that encourages or forbids certain actions from taking place. One example of this is a mandate that all recruiting agencies are not allowed to contact hiring managers directly. The external recruiting agency feels powerless over their success if they don’t have access to key decision makers around the open job requisition. Unless an internal recruiting team empowers them! Corporate teams won’t do this on a whim. They need to trust you and your intentions.

Realistically, bottlenecks in the recruiting lifecycle originate from blockades coming directly from the corporate recruiting team stemming from an ineffective policy. The corporate recruiting team doesn’t have enough authority or influence to other business leaders inside the organization. Usually, its meant to protect process, hiring manager headaches, to keep executives away from distractions, and in all honesty, to protect corporate recruiting managers from themselves! We as corporate recruiting leaders aren’t armed with much protection from the problems that are inherent in recruiting. Exposure is part of the job, my friend.

Why don’t corporate recruiting managers have more influence?

Well, corporate teams have limited data on what solves actual problems within the recruiting department. Most of it is informational and un-evolved. The recruiting industry, as a whole, is way behind. When most organizations are using predictive analytics to guide decisions in their department, corporate recruiting teams are still reacting to past data and trying to make sense of it!

Assumption-based decision making is running the show and its obvious to executive leaders in other departments that there is a lot of bullshi**ing going on. Plain and simple. Recruiting managers might have a hunch about making things better but lack the mechanism to prove it.

When the attempt to build a business case happens, the corporate recruiting manager can’t back it up with any actionable data!

You can’t build any case without taking a data-driven approach and the only data that is available is topical. Recruiting systems like applicant tracking systems (ATS) have yet to make sense of all the data it carries because ATS companies are typically lead by technology leaders, not recruiting leaders. Only the recruiting expert and thought leader can make sense of all the chaotic recruiting data. Only after intense customization through combing and aggregating several of the cookie-cutter reports exported from rudimentary ATS reporting.

Even after that, it doesn’t make any sense to non-recruiting business leaders so we all spin around and smile in the weekly update meeting, trying to oversimplify how everything is going.

“Things are on the up and up! I’ve got five great candidates in the funnel!”

Unless the corporate recruiting team knows what is important to executive leaders, they can’t help solve executive problems. Do you see the pattern? You can help bridge the gap if you are a recruiting agency. Help your corporate recruiting contact figure out how to deliver value. First solve their problems, and then help them solve their peers problems. That is the ticket. Help them solve their problems, not yours! Get them to open up to you!

2. Technology Pitfalls and Data Drillings

Unlike the previous hiring boom where LinkedIn (or shall I say, Microsoft’s database: LinkedIn) was the new kid on the block, we are inundated with an untrained workforce being trained on unproven recruiting technology. Most of it….actually, all of it, was built by non-recruiting professionals.

How are these recruiting tools suppose to add value when the product developers don’t even know the difference between sourcing, recruiting, and hiring lifecycles?

Sure they might exit and thrill investors like a recent search technology did, but what good are they doing for a broken industry that still has systemic issues…

More data doesn’t fix problems. What does? It is the relationship that exists between you, your company, the hiring team, and the data that is grabbed that matters.

Relationship-driven data offers insights, data analysis, actions, and a way to create outcomes that can actually solve problems.

Where is that software?

We might not have technology that does it for us yet but you are a very smart recruiting professional working at an agency you are proud, so connect the dots yourself!

Figure out what needs to happen. You don’t need a push notification to follow your instincts.

Talent supply is similar to supply chain. A bad design to help you source widgets will prevent scalability and lock a company up from getting through the lifecycle.

If your recruiting lifecycle isn’t integrated within a program with objectives, goals around performance, performance tracking, and predictive forecasting, scaling hiring will turn into resistance until a breakdown. That is what rises costs and increases turnover while productivity goes down.

When internal recruiting teams fail to build a recruiting roadmap, they are failing to develop a strategy that attracts hirable talent, integrates people, teams, and processes in a fun way that helps people accomplish their jobs without even realizing it. That is how to make music in recruiting departments and on hiring teams.

Because the technology isn’t there yet does not mean you can’t build a value-adding process with simple guidelines…call it a program!

3. Relationship Building Matters

You might be in a vendor neutral system. Perhaps you don’t have access to hiring managers. So what. This doesn’t mean that you are working in a hopeless environment. Build relationships! That is the key to the recruiting game, remember?

Instead of asking your client topical questions that will help you solve your problems, start asking tougher questions that make you sweat because you honestly don’t know the answer or what reaction or response you are going to get. Take a risk and learn something. Dig deeper.

You don’t need to know or understand the solution, just find someone who does and relay the information. If it is sound advice backed up with benchmarked data or at least some qualifying wisdom, pass it along to your client. Send an email or leave the insight on a voicemail, you know they aren’t going to answer the call.

Nobody ever wins alone and corporate recruiting teams need all types of resources to be successful. Scratch their back first and I promise that you will get whats coming to you.

4. Accountability

Every quality recruiter understands that there are inherent steps that must be taken early on in the recruiting lifecycle. I’ll provide a real-world in recruiting example.

Lets talk about salary ranges…

The best practice around salary ranges is for hiring managers and recruiting leaders to establish specific salary bands before each new role and role revision (assuming there isn’t a salary band guiding you like you see in an enterprise). Build flexibility into the budget for special circumstances. Key performance indicators (KPI) factor this into the value of a professional salary you are attempting to hire. Skills are one of a few key factors in determining compensation.

The next step is to centralize communication and disseminate it throughout a recruiting dashboard or communication structure where it can be received and confirmed that the knowledge has been transferred within your team.

Document that you have confirmed the knowledge so you can hold yourself and others accountable. Unfortunately, the reality is that the candidate that everyone loves will be fast tracked through the recruiting process, treated like gold, and offered a salary that is 30% lower than the competitive market rate and what the candidate told the recruiter at the beginning of the process.

Why did this happen?

The salary amount was documented in the system by your entry-level screeners, several times it was mentioned in the interview process, and reconfirmed by your agency contact who represents the candidate (obviously).

The hiring manager, recruiting manager, and executive financial sponsor had no idea about the candidates ask because there isn’t a tool or program that integrates realtime candidate salary data coming from interviews syncing leaders who sign off on the official salary budget when an offer is made.

This knowledge is extremely valuable early in the process.

NEWSFLASH: The market analysis system that you are using is outdated. Yes. In my career, it has always been lower than what is competitive in the market.

You pay for talent or you’ll pay for problems. Pick your poison.

Geo-specific data is available but it requires some elbow grease on the front end. It comes from your local market, your candidates, your recruiters, your internet, not some far off silicon valley company that thinks they are the TrueCar of salaries. Ding. Another entrepreneur is born. Build that system because we need it and send me a check for coming up with the idea!

Ultimately, there is no accountability. After the offer is rejected, everyone involved begins pointing fingers at everyone else because hopes and dreams are crushed when a candidate declines the offer and someone has to pay for the mistake.

In reality, leadership protects themselves and doesn’t take accountability. The investors blame the executives for missing headcount projections. The executives blame either the hiring manager or the recruiting manager. The hiring manager blames the recruiting manager. The recruiting manager blames their recruiting team. Who takes the fall?

What changes happen after this failure? Usually, none.

Who loses?

The candidate

The employer

The recruiting coordinator

The recruiter

The recruiting manager

The hiring manager

The hiring team

Your company reputation

Your opinion of recruiters

What is the wasted cost? If you add up the entire cost of the failed hire, by the whole interview team: $5,000 – $10,000 depending on the size of the team.

A conservative estimate that does not include the opportunity lost, cost of vacancy for the position remaining open.

5. Turnover

Until we solve systemic issues in recruiting, we will face uncertainly and doubt that leads people to greener pastures. The desire to find a better leader, work environment, recruiting system, or candidate pool is normal when you are dealing with dysfunction. Seeking is a healthy activity when pain exists, however, we need to understand what an ideal environment looks like compared with one that is doomed.

The more experience you gain will help you make better decisions guiding you toward sustainable recruiting success.

Soon, you will be able to detect who the best recruiting leaders are, what systems work well, and what environments are attractive to top talent. In fact, we are working on a solution that will begin diagnosing root causes in corporate recruiting departments, outlining problems and performance in a fun way.

Learn more about our upcoming product here and if you’d like to see what else we are working on, check out our website.

This wraps up my 6-article series focused on outlining challenges between recruiting teams, agency recruiters, and recruiting technology. If you missed out on the other blogs, here is the link that got us started. Thanks for reading!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Chmielinski is a second generation recruiting veteran, former athlete, and founder of Veruca.io, the first ever recruiting innovations lab. His company is built from two generations of sales and recruiting experience resting on the backbone of post-millennial technology. An industry-leading, hub-spot for consulting, technology, and recruiting process design. Veruca.io aims to make life easier for professional sourcing and recruiting teams. Mr. Chmielinski’s inaugural software attracted 178 active users in 114 cities from 17 countries.

Hiring season is in full swing with recruiting agencies circling employers like sharks. Today’s climate in the staffing world reminds me of the staffing spike in 2006. Back then, submitting the right candidate to a prospective client got you in the door and ensured, fast-track placements. This time around, it may get you in the door but it doesn’t take long before getting lost into the abyss of corporate recruiting dysfunction…even when you represent a rock star!

Why does customer acquisition feel more like a dating cycle on tinder?

The reality is that even best-in-class recruiting process doesn’t guarantee success. If you are a recruiting agent, you think you influence a hire but in reality, corporate teams often marginalize your efforts. You might feel like you are powerless with certain clients. Is it suppose to be like that?

In the following, I will examine four corporate obstacles impacting your success as a third-party recruiting agency.

4 Customer Challenges Blocking your Recruiting Agency…

1. Infrastructure

Lets start with the most important one.

Is the corporate recruiting department you support integrated in terms of tools, technology, process, and business partners?

Before you ever have a chance at making a placement with your client, you need to ensure you are working with a customer who has solved the problems listed in this article and understands what it’s like to be in your shoes. Do they arm you with the right knowledge and respond to your needs?

Perhaps you sense a deeper problem rooted within your client’s corporate recruiting department? How do you know if you are an agent working with a broken corporate recruiting system?
Lets outline the symptoms:

No transparency

No information on changing requirements

No projections on future projects, staffing requirement

No collaboration

No contact from hiring managers (unless policy doesn’t allow)

No relationship with the internal team

No relationship outside of the office

No time to build relationships

No time to listen to you

No respect

No constructive criticism requests

No promises kept

No callbacks

No interviews after quality submissions

No hires

No details

No idea about changing priorities

No relationship

No transparency

No praising

No reporting

No benchmarking

No improvements

No scorecarding

No engagement

No recognition of faults

No hiring targets

No loyalty

No performance reviews

No creativity

No exceptions

I see a pattern? Do you? If this looks like your client, it’s time to move on.2. Key knowledge about job orders

This one is on you, recruiting agency. Do not work on a role you don’t understand. How do you know? Well…

Can you manage a conversation with a practitioner you are trying to recruit?

Do you know what challenges your candidate is facing?

Does your candidate accept your LinkedIn request?

Do you have credibility in their eyes?

Do you understand their lingo?

Have you conducted any research on the skill-set you are hiring for?

Discovery, research, and examination are key to engaging candidates.

3. Leadership
Let’s face it, department managers and executives who make hiring decisions haven’t had a lot of training in recruitment nor do they really care about what it takes for a recruiting program to source, qualify, and hire talent successfully. Relationship management is a concept far off in the distance. Beyond understanding how best to interview, offer, and onboard talent, corporate leadership just wants you to do your job as a recruiter even if they don’t know what that is. Many don’t even understand why performance-based interviewing and key performance indicators are essential to hiring.

4. Communication Chaos

Is there a consistent and reliable format that your internal contacts have established to communicate with you individually and as a group within your agency program? Yes, it’s okay to congregate together as agencies. How else can you all align to the strategic goals of the recruiting department?

Is there a set structure for the agenda?

Are they holding you accountable periodically with set metrics and goals that they value?

Do they return your calls?

If you can relate to any of these problems, you might want to reallocate your efforts toward another customer.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we explore five more reasons to find a new customer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Chmielinski is a second generation recruiting veteran, former athlete, and founder of Veruca.io, the first ever recruiting innovations lab. His company is built from two generations of sales and recruiting experience resting on the backbone of post-millennial technology. An industry-leading, hub-spot for consulting, technology, and recruiting process design. Veruca.io aims to make life easier for professional sourcing and recruiting teams. Mr. Chmielinski’s inaugural software attracted 178 active users in 114 cities from 17 countries.